Sean “Diddy” Combs is the latest cover star of ESSENCE magazine.

On the front cover of the May 2019 Power Issue, REVOLT TV’s chairman poses with his three daughters, 12-year-old twins D’Lila Star and Jessie James Combs with the late Kim Porter, and 12-year-old Chance Combs with stylist Sarah Chapman.

Inside the spread, Diddy opened up to writer and filmmaker dream hampton (“Surviving R. Kelly”) about the sudden passing of Porter in November 2018 and how his family has managed to move forward while continuing to honor her life and legacy.

“That day turned my world upside down,” the 49-year-old father of six told hampton. “Three days before she passed, she wasn’t feeling well. She had the flu, and she sent the kids over to my house so they wouldn’t get sick,” he recalled.

“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,” he shared.

Diddy, who also share a son 21-year-old son, rapper Christian Combs, with Porter, says he “jumped into mommy mode” to make sure his children didn’t learn of her death via social media. “I had to get to the girls’ school and find Quincy, who was on set in Atlanta,” he told the outlet. “Christian was on a plane, and I had his phone disconnected so he wouldn’t read it in the air.”

“There was screaming and crying when I heard the news, of course, but I had to ask myself, What would Kim do?” he admitted. “I was scared, and I was crying out to God—and to her—and almost immediately Kim’s voice kicked in, and I could hear her saying, “Make sure you take care of my babies.”

When asked about how his family is doing ahead of their first Mother’s Day without Porter, Diddy revealed they’re “doing really well” because her passing made them “love each other even more.” He also revealed he feels “a lot more present” following Porter’s death “and, most important, now my kids come before anything else in my life,” he shared.

“Whenever I was around her, I felt as though God had his hand in it,” Diddy continued. “I always felt like God had sent her. Nobody could love me the way she loved me, especially as, you know, as crazy as I acted. I mean, she loved me through some real s—t.”

Read his full ESSENCE interview on newsstands and digital platforms this Friday (April 26).