Remember the house of candles Meredith made on the fourth season finale of Grey's Anatomy? It looks like we're finally going to get to see a real house on that very spot.

“We’re going to start the construction on the Dream House,” creator Shonda Rhimes recently told EW. “We’ve been talking a lot about what that means, what it looks like."

"Then we’re actually going to see it [later] this season.”

Any thoughts on this particular blueprint for love?

Is Meredith and Derek's future that of domestic bliss?

This isn't to say there won't be obstacles - time bombs even - for MerDer.

In addition to Derek stepping down as chief in the aftermath of the shooting, there's the weighty matter of the miscarriage. We'll also see Meredith become the caretaker of some of the other doctors, and struggled to be cleared for surgery herself.

Speaking of the fallout from the sixth season finale, what's going to happen with Alex? He dragged himself, bleeding, into an elevator and was operated on with no drugs.

Eh, that's just Alex being Alex.

His reaction to the massacre, Shonda says, will be what you'd expect from him. “There’s a lot of bravado,” explains Rhimes. “He tells stories about how he almost got the shooter and how he’s carrying this bullet around in his chest. He’s covering all of that vulnerability he showed when he got shot with that [typical] Alex behavior.”

How does he respond to lady love Little Grey? Not well. “He’s kind of cold to Lexi,” says Rhimes. “He talks about how easy it is to get laid now that the women think he’s a hero.”

Are you excited to see Meredith and Derek's new nest? How long can Alex keep up the obnoxious facade before he lets Lexie in? Comment and discuss below!

Steve Marsi is the Managing Editor of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Google+ or email him here.