So bittersweet. Sean “Diddy” Combs revealed to Essence magazine exactly what his “soul mate,” Kim Porter, said to him before she died, and it might break your heart. “Three days before she passed, she wasn’t feeling well,” the performer explained. “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.”

Kim passed away at the young age of 47 on November 15. “Sadly, I can confirm the passing of Kim Porter,” Diddy’s rep told Us Weekly at the time. “I ask that you give the families privacy at this time.” Law enforcement reportedly got an emergency dispatch call midday about a patient going into cardiac arrest, and though the cause of death was unknown at the time, there was speculation she had been feeling flu-like symptoms, as Diddy described.

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Kim and Diddy, 49, dated for 13 years and although they split in 2007, they still maintained a strong connection. The former couple shared three children together — twin girls Jessie James and D’Lila Star, and a son, Christian Combs. Kim also had a son, Quincy, from her previous relationship with Al B. Sure. “Kim is an incredible mother to our children. We’ve been part of each other’s lives for many years and I have always admired her courage and strength,” Diddy said about his ex-girlfriend during an interview with JET.

It sounds like after her death, Diddy worked hard to try to fill the void for their family. He told Essence after Kim died, “I jumped into mommy mode. I sent people in every direction to try to make sure the kids would not hear about it on social media or the news.”

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Diddy added, “Every time Kim and I talked, it was about the kids. It was what she cared about the most. We’d check in as friends, of course, but we never had a conversation that didn’t include the kids … On some level, I knew she was training me for this. I knew that I had to be ready to do whatever I was supposed to do if something like this ever happened. There was screaming and crying when I heard the news, of course, but I had to ask myself, What would Kim do? 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.'” So heartbreaking. Our thoughts are still with the rapper and his family.

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