Anna Nicole Smith and Howard K Stern Plan to Marry  9/28/06

Anna Nicole Smith's lawyer and father of her new baby girl, Howard K Stern, insists her son Daniel's tragic death made them realize how much they love each other and convinced them to get married.

Stern appeared on Larry King Live Tuesday night (26SEP06), where he revealed he is the "proud father" of new baby Danilynne, who was born just days before Smith's 20-year-old son Daniel died in the Bahamas.

Stern said, "We love each other and it's been going on for a very long time and because of my relationship as her lawyer, we felt it was best to keep everything hidden.

"And we've done a pretty good job of that."

When King asked if the couple had plans to marry Stern said, "I've loved her for quite some time and hopefully the feeling's mutual. At some point, we will.

"Right now we have to somehow get through what we're going through. It probably would have been sooner, you know, but for Daniel's death.

"We really haven't been allowed to grieve with the way that this whole thing has been handled.

"And you know, it's going to be, I think, a little while before we're going to be able to experience real happy moments."

When King asked about claims by photojournalist Larry Birkhead that he was actually the baby's father and the circumstances surrounding Birkhead's relationship with Anna Nicole, Stern said, "She never considered him her boyfriend."

When King asked if Stern knew if Smith and Birkhead had ever been intimate, he simply said, "You know, that's something I don't even want to get into when we're talking about Daniel's death.

"I just don't think this is the time for it."