Erica Morales didn’t get to hold her quadruplets or name them before she sadly passed away. Her husband, Carlos Morales, misses his wife dearly, and the four blessings God gave him are his reason to keep going.

When the couple met in 2006, they didn’t speak the same language, yet fell in love. By 2007, the two learned how to speak each other’s respective languages and got married. They dreamed of starting a family, but it was more challenging than expected. After a tragic miscarriage, the couple learned Erica was pregnant after IVF treatment in 2014.

Carlos said, “We couldn’t have been more excited to have a baby finally.” However, they weren’t having just one baby because Erica was pregnant with quadruplets. Erica’s pregnancy was going well until the seven-month mark. She was admitted to the hospital for high blood pressure and decided to deliver the quads via c-section. According to Carlos, the doctor said she had too many contractions, so it was time to deliver the babies.

Loved ones surrounded Erica beforehand. She and Carlos chose three of the quads’ names – Carlos Jr. for the boy and Paisley and Tracey for two of the girls. However, they weren’t sure what to name the third girl but decided to choose after she was born. The doctors delivered all four babies with no problem, each healthy and weighing two to three pounds. Carlos said, “Seeing Erica and the babies healthy is all I could think about. I was just so excited for our future.” Sadly, things took a turn for the worst.

Erica went into hypovolemic shock, a condition where someone experiences severe blood loss. Before she could hold or name her last baby, Erica was gone. Carlos couldn’t understand why Erica’s life was cut short but soon realized he had four babies to care for, calling them his four blessings. He decided to name his last daughter Erica after her late mother.

After Erica’s tragic death, the community surrounded Carlos to help and support him. Her mother, Sonia, moved to California to help with the babies, and one of Erica’s friends started a GoFundMe page to help the family. Eventually, Carlos’ story made it to the “Steve Harvey Show.” Harvey gifted Carlos with a $10,000 savings account per child for college from Sallie Mae.

Carlos recalled, “When Steve Harvey told me that, I couldn’t believe it. Everything I do is for my children and their future. Education is so important. I worry about money, and this just made me feel so relieved.” The Morales quadruplets are growing quickly and have started preschool. Carlos keeps everyone updated via the Erica Morales Memorial Page on Facebook.

While raising quadruplets as a single dad certainly keeps him busy, Carlos always has his late wife on his mind. “This wasn’t the plan. Erica was supposed to be here. I still come home after work and look at pictures of us together. “I go to her Facebook and look through our text messages,” he says.

He’ll always miss Erica, but her memory and the blessing of his 4 beautiful children inspire Carlos each day to never give up.