Robin Thicke is elaborating on why he's grown his family so quickly with fiancée April Love Geary.
The "When You Love Somebody" singer, 43, opens up about fatherhood in this week's issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, explaining how being a dad "has fed my soul" — particularly since the 2016 death of his own dad, Growing Pains star Alan Thicke.
Fatherhood "brought me back," he says. "I think probably when I lost my father, it's no coincidence that I've had three children in the last few years … because that's how big that hole is. I remember a friend of his and mine said, 'A big tree has fallen.' That's what my dad was. He was the big tree."
"Now here I am, this medium-size tree, and I've got to grow my branches and I've got to secure my roots and I've got to protect everybody that he was protecting also," adds Thicke. "For me, it's a job that I'm very happy to do, and every day I try to make him proud of me."
In December, Thicke welcomed his fourth child, son Luca Patrick, his third with Geary, with whom he also shares Mia, 2½, Lola, 23 months. He's also dad to 10-year-old son Julian, whom he shares with ex-wife Paula Patton.
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Thicke says they're "pretty busy" with their brood, adding that when they welcomed their newest addition home, Mia took some extra time adjusting to the dynamics.
"Mia was a handful for a couple weeks," he says. "She took a couple steps back. I really stepped in as a dad and just spent most of the days with her and really walked her through that period. Then she just blossomed from it and she's holding baby brother and she's taking care of him and she's getting things for him."
"As a parent, sometimes we get so scared when our kids aren't going in the direction we want them to. It's really hard to re-dedicate to paying attention to what they need right at that moment, but it's so rewarding as a parent when you see them having a tough time with something and then they come out of it and it's like it never happened and she's the happiest girl," says Thicke. "My heart just overflows with joy, knowing that I was a part of her getting through that tough period."
Thicke admits he was "scared" at first about having daughters. "The more time that I'm with them, the older they get, they're just also my new best friends," the singer says. "They're just my buddies. It's the best feeling. There's nothing like when my daughters smile at me and climb on me. There's no feeling like that."
But will his family be expanding further sometime soon? Thicke says right now he "can't think of anything like that."
"I am so in love with my children and they bring me more than anything has ever brought me," Thicke says. "The thing about my kids is they entertain me and bring me joy every single day. They never let me down. I can't watch the same movie every day and be that entertained. I can't hear the same song every day and be that entertained. They entertain me and bring me love and joy every single day, and that's an unmatched entity."
For more on Robin Thicke's family life, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.
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