Here's a story I wrote for Reflections (a contest) a few years ago. (2011) The theme was diversity.

She cried as she hung up the phone. Her husband cradled her head in his chest and rocked her slowly back and forth. If I was the dog sitting next to the couple on the rug, I would be very confused, but I wasn’t the dog. I was the mother without a child, the women cradled and protected by her husband.
It had been two years since Jeremy had disappeared but every ring of the phone was a spark of hope in my pit of blackness. This call hadn’t been about my little boy, it was about a little girl. My tears weren’t tears of sorrow, but tears of confusion. I didn’t want to make the next decision, but I needed to. I turned to look at my husband and that is when I realized he had no idea what was going on.
I slowly sat up and took a sip of my water, then set it on the table next to the phone. I started talking, my voice cracking every other word or so.
“They thought they found Jeremy but it turned out to be a little girl. Her parents can’t be found and they were wondering if we would like to…” my voice wavered and I again burst out in tears. What if my Jeremy had been found, his kidnapper in jail, but they couldn’t reach me? What if he was safe and happy but with another mommy?! It was too hard to bare and it would be horrible to take someone else’s child. It was like I was replacing my son with a random daughter whose parents were probably worried sick over her.
“What should we do?” I cried again looking into Matt’s eyes, Jeremy’s eyes. Even at three he had been the spitting image of his father.
Matt, being the calm guy he was, softened my hair and spoke surely and slowly, “We have to help her, take her here and look for her parents. Jeremy will be here soon, I just know it. Wouldn’t you want someone to help Jeremy?”
Looking at it this way didn’t seem to make me look like I was stealing another mother’s child and I asked Matt to call the station back.
☺☺☺
Things happened much faster than I thought possible and I met the girl that night.
She was very shy and wore very plain clothing. She looked about five and they guessed she had only gone missing for about 3 months, yet her parents hadn’t been involved in the search, or at least not around here. The girl had shiny black hair and gray eyes.
“What’s your name?” I asked her, but she didn’t answer. The officer next to Matt proclaimed, “She can’t speak English.” He paused, “but we believe her name is Raylae,”
After more talking, they agreed Raylae would move in the next week. When the officer left I turned to Matt, “She can’t speak English.” I again broke into tears.
The next morning was a crazy one, first Matt and I called relatives and family to tell them the news. We then headed to the store and bought our little girl some clothes and a couple of toys. And then, I went into Jeremy’s room and cried my eyes out. Matt and I cleaned up his toys and put on the new pink bedspread. We filled the drawers with Raylae’s new clothing and then she came over again.
We talked to the officer and showed Raylae her room.
Raylae came over every night and played with her toys, she wore her new clothes back to the station and even called me “Mama” once. It was so weird and sad, but I learned to love Raylae quickly and she was starting to pick up English. I was “Mama” Matt was “Mate” and words like “toy” and “water” soon came. Our dog was her best friend, and she was his.
Before we knew it, it was Saturday, the day Raylae would stay overnight, and hopefully, would never again return to the station.
We waited until Raylae fell asleep and then the officer turned to leave. As he opened the door his pager went off and he quickly waved to the family and left.
As Matt picked up the little girl asleep on the floor and walked her to her bed, there was a knock on the door. “I’ll get it,” I said even though I wanted to tuck Ray in so badly. The officer was at the door and her had important news.
“Raylae’s parents have been found,” he gave out a big sigh, “but they are not alive. If you would like to adopt Raylae I can hook you up with someone who can help.”
Matt started chatting to the officer about the exact adoption process and I wandered to the hallway. I peeked into my baby’s room and inside was Ray, her mommy was gone, and if I wanted to, I could be her new one. Did I want that?
Raylae started to fidget in her sleep and I came over to find a little blanket in her arms. It was Jeremy’s. I wondered how she had gotten it out of the top of the closet. But it was then that I knew she needed me. I knew I needed to make her part of my family.
About a year later Jeremy was found and returned to us. He had been living with a family in Canada. Our two children became best friends, and if they hadn’t been different races, people would have mistaken them for twins.