Sean Puffy Combs and his three daughters are on the cover of Essence Magazine May issue.

Combs discuss the sudden death of his former girlfriend Kim Porter and how he was a part time father.

Immediately after her untimely passing, Diddy, 49, tells ESSENCE he “jumped into mommy mode” and hasn’t stopped trying to keep his family together and strong as they mourn their unfathomable loss.

Diddy and Porter, who also share a son, Christian Combs, 21, were never shy about how much they embraced what he calls their blended “unconventional family,” which along with the girls also includes Porter’s son with singer Al B. Sure!, Quincy Brown, 27, and Diddy’s son with celebrity stylist Misa Hylton Brim, Justin Combs, 25. But, getting there wasn’t an easy road for Porter. Diddy also spoke about how Porter had to come around to accepting Chance, who was born weeks before the couple’s twins.

In the May issue of Essence, Combs, 49, reveals what Porter told him before she died and how that defined his reaction.

“Three days before she passed, she wasn’t feeling well,” Combs explains. “She had the flu, and she sent the kids over to my house so they wouldn’t get sick.”

“One night I was checking on her, and she was like, ‘Puffy, take care of my babies.’ She actually said that to me before she died.”

This will be the first mother’s day for Kim’s children without her. Hear Diddy’s thoughts on Kim Porter.

Ms. Culture Keeper-