Sookie didn't have many words of comfort to offer Anatoly. Asking him to keep faith in the possibility of his children someday arriving on Tabula Rasa seemed to be asking for disappointment. Finally, she steeled her nerves and inhaled lightly, prepared to offer whatever she could, even if it wasn't too much.

"Well, the good thing is that everyone who arrives never notices that people've been gone from where they are, so your children aren't without you back home, so you're not losin' anything much. And if they do come," Sookie offered, "then you'll get a chance to spend more time with them."