Anne Heche and James Tupper are "Eternally Engaged"

Wonderwall, Wednesday, September 30, 2009, 8:45am (PDT)

Michelle Lanz

Just because they now have a child together doesn't mean Anne Heche and James Tupper are getting hitched.

James, 44, who met and co-starred with Anne, 40, in the TV series "Men In Trees," tells Life & Style magazine that the couple has no plans of getting married anytime soon.

“We are eternally engaged,” said James, who now stars on the NBC medical drama "Mercy." “That means I have to give her a new ring every year. I'm not saying we'll never [officially] get engaged, but she likes getting a ring every year.”

Apparently the popular assumption that Heche is a far-out flake is just flat out wrong. The actress is clearly quite calculating when she's counting (and amassing) carats.

Anne and James first fell for each other on set in 2006. Both were married at the time, but that never stops a true Hollywood romance.

“I started looking forward to the days when we were working together, counting the hours,” James recalls.

The couple have been building a life together ever since, and they welcomed the birth of their son, Atlas, in March. Anne also has a 7-year-old, Homer, from her first marriage. (And she may or may not have once shared a pet with her ex-girlfriend Ellen Degeneres. How soon we forget.)

So is another baby on the way? “I'd love to have a girl,” says James. “I'm trying to talk Anne into it, but like every actress, she says, ‘I don't want to get fat again. I have a career!'”

Well, she has a career for as long as "Hung" lasts, at least. We'll put our money on Tupper's show "Mercy," instead.

More on Wonderwall:

Check out entertainment's hottest nurses

See what other co-stars had major off-set chemistry

See more hot showbiz moms