Not surprisingly, her mother was furious, and she made Andrea’s announcement all about herself. Andrea’s father basically made a public statement disowning her, though he stopped short at trying to take her child away—probably because, deep down, he didn’t want the responsibility. But Max remained steadfastly by her side. They even did a few interviews together. Andrea had never felt so grateful for her brother . . . and certainly never so surprised by a member of her family.

Not long after, Andrea received a phone call from a woman who introduced herself as the guidance director for the St. Sebastian School. It took Andrea a moment to recognize the name—St. Sebastian was the place Piper pretended North attended. The woman, Wendy Reed, said she’d followed Andrea’s story and read her blog and message boards; she wondered if Andrea was interested in speaking with some of St. Sebastian’s students.

At first Andrea said no. But Wendy explained that St. Sebastian was often a place parents sent their kids when they felt they didn’t fit anywhere else. “A lot of our kids are struggling,” she said. “With their identities, with their feelings. I can think of a few of them who’d benefit from your story. I’m thinking of just a luncheon or something like that. A small group of kids who might want to talk. We’d pay you, of course.”

Andrea had been nervous. What did she have to say to a bunch of teenagers? By the time she was in the little room off the cafeteria where her “group” would take place, her stomach was in knots and she felt even more nauseated than she had speaking to Oprah. But then a few kids filed in. Boys slumped over, fidgety, quiet. When one of them looked up at her, his blue eyes round and yearning, her breath caught in her throat. The yearning in them reminded her of someone.

They talked about normal things—movies, video games, sports, their favorite flavors of ice cream. It felt like a win to get remarks out of them. When a few kids laughed, Andrea sensed it was the first time they’d done so in a while, at least on school grounds.

She met with the same group the next week, and then the next. At that point, they were her kids. They told her things she knew they didn’t tell their parents. And then it clicked: she understood why she recognized the yearning. Was Roger somewhere out there? She hoped so.

Which then made her realize—Roger was old enough by then to make his own decisions. Find his own path. Now that she’d gone on the record about who she was, maybe it would serve as a beacon for him. If he wanted to reach out—which she hoped he would—now he knew where she was.