In Brandy’s recent interview  with Vibe magazine, she says of 6-year-old Sy’rai Iman Smith, “we’re like best friends.”

“I like her as a person. She makes me laugh. So much insight comes from her. She’s six going on 18. We sing together.  We crack jokes…I’m just so glad that she’s mine.”

That her relationship with Sy’rai’s father, producer Robert Smith, did not survive is unfortunate — but not an open wound for either party. Robert, who has since gotten married and has three other daughters, tells Vibe.com that while “the relationship didn’t work out” the “bottom line is the friendship.” For the committed co-parents “the common denominator” remains Sy’rai. Adds Robert,

“You can’t be so mad at somebody who gave you that kind of a gift…At the end of the day, we have a beautiful child, and I’m the happiest man on Earth. That’s really the logistics of it. No drama.”

It’s a sentiment echoed by Brandy herself, who has been single for three years. She admits that she has moments of wondering “What’s going on?” and “Oh my God, am I old?” but says she’s happy for now to channel all her energy into Sy’rai. “I think that’s why I’m so close to my daughter — because I don’t have a relationship to balance it out,” she explains. “I’m so clingy with her, she’s like, ‘Mom, let me breathe.’”